{"id":53635,"date":"2016-04-07T15:07:32","date_gmt":"2016-04-07T22:07:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=53635"},"modified":"2016-04-07T15:07:32","modified_gmt":"2016-04-07T22:07:32","slug":"former-prime-minister-tony-abbotts-comments-on-national-security-and-support-for-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2016\/04\/07\/former-prime-minister-tony-abbotts-comments-on-national-security-and-support-for-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott\u2019s comments on National Security and Support for Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ranjith Soysa\u00a0Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka (Victoria)<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

As a collective of organisations representing Australians of Sri Lankan origin, we welcome the comments on Sri Lanka made by the former Australian Prime Minister Mr. Tony Abbot in a recent article to the Quadrant Magazine entitled \u2018I Was Right on National Security\u2019.<\/p>\n

In particular, Mr Abbots statement that \u2018Australia didn\u2019t join the human rights lobby against the tough but probably unavoidable actions taken to end one of the world\u2019s most vicious civil wars\u2019 resonates well with all Sri Lankans who endured the three-decade long campaign of terror waged by the LTTE to carve-out a separate mono-ethnic state of Tamil Eelam from the North and the East of Sri Lanka.\u00a0 During this period, thousands of Sri Lankans from all ethnic backgrounds were killed by the LTTE using various violent means including the bombing of public buses, trains, buildings and roads.\u00a0 Untold damage was also caused to the infrastructure of the country and places of religious worship including World Heritage protected sites.<\/p>\n

Mr. Abbot\u2019s comment that \u2018the balance between civil liberties and national security does have to shift while there are people in our midst pledged to do us harm\u2019 is applicable to many nations currently facing complex situations as it was to Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

As he says, \u2018The problem is not just terrorism but those who would justify or excuse terrorism without actually advocating it\u2019.\u00a0 This is a strong reminder to the Tamil Tiger diaspora and the LTTE apologists masquerading as Refugee and Human Rights Advocates as well as to other anti Sri Lankan activists, including a number of misguided Australian politicians and journalists, that they too are accountable for the destruction heaped on the people of Sri Lanka.\u00a0 Not surprisingly, they are the very groups that have been quick to criticise Mr. Abbot for his support of Sri Lanka\u2019s political and territorial integrity.<\/p>\n

We also endorse the former Prime Minister view that \u2018A country that can\u2019t control its borders sooner or later loses control of its future\u2019.\u00a0 The gift of two Australian Bay Class Patrol Boats to Sri Lanka and the joint operations between the two nations have already enhanced maritime security and reduced people smuggling in the region.<\/p>\n

As recent events in Europe show, countries with little or no border control are increasingly being exploited by economic migrants and those with links to international terrorism.\u00a0 Those who advocate the building of a land bridge and\/or tunnel between Sri Lanka and the overtly hostile Indian State of Tamil Nadu should take serious note of this warning.<\/p>\n

In conclusion, we gratefully acknowledge the economic and moral support extended by successive Australian Governments to the fellow Commonwealth nation of Sri Lanka and hope that this continues into the future.<\/p>\n

Ranjith Soysa<\/p>\n

(Coordinator)<\/p>\n

Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka (Victoria) \/ Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka (NSW) \/ Society for Peace, Unity and Rehab: in Sri Lanka (WA)\/ Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights in Sri Lanka (QLD) \/ Viru Daru Diriya Fund (Victoria)\/ Sinhala Cultural Association (ACT)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ranjith Soysa\u00a0Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka (Victoria) As a collective of organisations representing Australians of Sri Lankan origin, we welcome the comments on Sri Lanka made by the former Australian Prime Minister Mr. Tony Abbot in a recent article to the Quadrant Magazine entitled \u2018I Was Right on National Security\u2019. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53635\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}